AT&T Mobility

AT&T Mobility

AT&T Mobility LLC branded and referred to as AT&T (formerly Cingular Wireless LLC), is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc. that provides wireless services to 105.9 million subscribers in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. AT&T Mobility is the second largest wireless telecommunications provider in the United States and Puerto Rico. Behind Verizon Wireless, which has 111.3 million customers as of the third quarter of 2012. AT&T Mobility is headquartered in the Lenox Park area of DeKalb Co. Georgia, just outside Atlanta.

Originally Cingular Wireless LLC from 2000 to 2007, a joint venture between SBC Communications and BellSouth, the company acquired the old AT&T Wireless in 2004; SBC later acquired the original AT&T and re-branded as "AT&T". Cingular became wholly owned by AT&T in December 2006 as a result of AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth.

In January 2007, Cingular confirmed it would re-brand itself under the AT&T name. Although the legal corporate name change occurred immediately, for both regulatory and brand-awareness reasons both brands were used in the company's signage and advertising during a transition period. The transition concluded in late June, just prior to the rollout of the Apple iPhone.

On March 20, 2011, AT&T Mobility announced its intention to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion. If it had received government and regulatory approval, AT&T would have had more than 130 million subscribers, but the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Communications Commission, and competitors, i.e., Sprint opposed the move and in December 2011 AT&T backed out of their effort with the merger.